Alabama

Neiko Thorpe's move to safety gives Auburn another new look for 2011

Neiko Thorpe is ready to make the plays, at safety (Birmingham News / Hal Yeager)

Auburn practices this Friday morning, and we'll be back with video of it. For now, here's the newspaper story on the Tigers that appears Friday:

AUBURN -- Ted Roof has only three returning starters from a defense that helped Auburn win the national championship, but that hasn't stopped him from moving one of those veterans to a new position this spring.

The Auburn defensive coordinator has moved Neiko Thorpe, a soon-to-be senior who has started 28 games at cornerback, to safety.

"We thought that would be best for our football team and best for Neiko," Roof said. "I think it's a win-win for both because right now we've got more depth at corner than we did at safety.

"I think he's a much better safety than he is a corner. And I think he's very comfortable back there. I think we're going to see an increased level of production."

The spring depth chart for the secondary, after one day of practice, has Thorpe and Demetruce McNeal at safety, and perhaps T'Sharvan Bell and Chris Davis at cornerback. They and their backups have experience, and true freshman Jonathan Rose has joined the mix at cornerback.

The starters missing in the secondary are senior cornerback Demond Washington, senior safety Zac Etheridge and junior safety Mike McNeil, who was kicked off the team following an arrest for robbery and burglary two weeks ago.

The only defensive starters returning to the positions they played last year are end Nosa Eguae and linebacker Daren Bates, who can tell Thorpe about switching positions. Bates spent his first season at Auburn as a starting safety.

Roof is OK with Thorpe's move because "I think he's got great range and I think he's got good vision. And I think he's got the ability to range and cover some ground where he can see the whole field instead of having to focus in a small area on a receiver one-on-one."

Auburn's defense improved over the course of last season to the point that the Tigers finished first in the SEC and ninth in the nation in rushing defense behind a run-stopping front. But the Tigers' strategy to play the run forced opponents to pass, and AU finished 108th nationally in pass defense and 60th in total defense.

Roof's initial impressions after the first spring practice session?

"There's a lot of teaching, a lot of new faces in the starting lineup," he said. "But there's a lot of exuberance, a lot of energy to get out there and get going."

His tentative lineup for the linebackers has Bates returning to his old starting job, and Jonathan Evans and Jake Holland replacing longtime starters Craig Stevens and Josh Bynes.

"The good thing is that there's opportunity abounds," Roof said. "It's going to force everybody to be better."